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Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Dave Pinkham
February 9, 2000
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Venice Area Gulf of Mexico Offshore Report
Grouper fishing continues to be fairly reliable as long as the Gulf is not too rough. Most any type of bottom structure has been holding both gags and reds. Groupers are often drawn to these spots due to the baitfish and crabs that will inhabit these areas. Baits that have been producing grouper catches for my clients have been cut sardines, shrimp, crabs, and live baitfish such as pinfish, grunts, and squirrelfish.
When the groupers stop chewing I like to gear down to lighter gear and target mangrove snapper. These excellent eating fish have been showing up on just about any decent structure all winter. Once they turn on the action can be fast and furious. Once again cut sardines and shrimp are my favorite baits. As a matter of fact, if I had to choose one natural bait as the single best all around fish producer, I'd say it would have to be shrimp. As far as I know there’s not a fish that swims that won’t eat one.
Do you want to catch a real big fish? Ever heard of Greater Amberjack? This is the time of year that they should be stacked up on the deeper wrecks and springs. The problem is from what I'm seeing and the reports I'm hearing there doesn’t seem to be that many AJ's around so far this year. Of course there is always the possibility that “the right place, right time, get lucky thing” hasn’t quite lined up yet either. Amberjack are known for their large size and their hard fighting ability. A big one on the business end of a fisher’s line can be the fight of a lifetime for 99% of the folks who would drown a bait. Here's to hoping that with the recreational creel limit on AJ’s reduced to one fish per person that the amberjack population will have the chance to rebound. We've sure seen reduced creel limits, and increased size limits help many other species of fishes in the last few years.
Cobia are still hanging around offshore. The other day I had a big one playing tag with my anchor ball. When I finally got my entire anchor rig back in the boat I headed downwind looking for the fish. Sure enough, we spotted it just cruising along on the surface. Quick as we could, we tossed a live grunt out in front of the fish. The cobia must have been hungry because it didn’t hesitate grabbing that grunt. Anyway we lost it about ten feet from the boat. It truly was the big one that got away that day.
That’s it for this week, if you’re too busy to go fishin, you’re just too busy. Get out and go fishin cuz it’s good fer ya!
Capt. Dave Pinkham, www.charter-boatfishing.com
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